Wetzel County, WV
Housing, jobs, water, deposits and federal obligations for this county, each figure with the release it came from. Internal point 39.60, -80.64.
Assembled 2026-10-06. Read the brief.
- 5th pct · 2,886th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 45th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
- 41st pct · 1,794th of 3,063 US counties · median +2.9%
- 40th pct · 33rd of 55 West Virginia counties · median +3.3%
- US counties: not published this period
- West Virginia counties: not published this period
- 34th pct · 2,122nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
- 49th pct · 1,619th of 3,221 US counties · median $1,039
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median $1,076
- 5th pct · 2,888th of 3,063 US counties · median 4.3
- 24th pct · 42nd of 55 West Virginia counties · median 2.8
Typical home value divided by the average annual wage of one covered job.
A percentile here is a min-max scaling of average rank: the smallest published value in the cohort is 0 and the largest is 100, and tied values share the average of the ranks they span. It is not the share of entities below the value, so 0 means smallest, not none below. Entities that did not publish the metric are outside the cohort entirely and are counted in neither the rank nor its denominator.
Home values #
Typical home $116,693 (Aug 2026), +2.2% over one year, +12.8% over five
- 5th pct · 2,886th of 3,063 US counties · median $234,566
- 18th pct · 45th of 55 West Virginia counties · median $154,872
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wetzel County, WV | $116,693 · +2.2% 1-yr |
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), typical value of homes in the 35th to 65th percentile, smoothed and seasonally adjusted; a model estimate of value, not a sale price. Data through Zillow Research.
Rents #
Zillow publishes no rent index for this area (ZORI covers about 1,400 counties)
- US counties: not published this period
- West Virginia counties: not published this period
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI), smoothed, all homes and multifamily; price-to-rent = typical home / (typical rent × 12).
What the typical home costs to carry #
Principal and interest of $639 a month on $116,693 at 7.28%, against an average weekly wage worth $4,498 a month: 14.2% of one job’s pay.
- payment = P·r / (1 − (1+r)^−n), P = $116,693 × 80% = $93,354, r = 7.28%/12 (Freddie Mac PMMS via FRED, 2026-10-01), n = 360 → $639/mo principal and interest
- wage share = payment / (avg weekly wage $1,038 × 52 / 12 = $4,498) = 14% of one average job's pay (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all covered jobs)
- years of wages = $116,693 / ($1,038 × 52) = 2.2
The wage is one covered job’s average, not a household’s income, so this is the share of a single paycheque and not a mortgage underwriting ratio.
Estimate. Principal and interest on the typical home with 20% down over 30 years at this week's Freddie Mac average rate; compared with the average weekly wage of all jobs covered by unemployment insurance in the area (BLS QCEW), which is pay per job, not household income.
Jobs & wages #
4,453 jobs at 443 employers (2026 Q1); -0.9% jobs and +2.2% average weekly wage over the year
- 34th pct · 2,122nd of 3,221 US counties · median 8,232
- 44th pct · 31st of 55 West Virginia counties · median 5,555
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Wetzel County, WV | 4,453 jobs · $1,038/wk · -0.9% YoY |
| NAICS sector | Jobs | Avg weekly wage | Location quotient | Jobs over the year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Retail trade | 791 | $617 | 1.82 | -2.6% |
| Accommodation and food services | 410 | $379 | 1.02 | -5.3% |
| Construction | 184 | $1,197 | 0.79 | -27.3% |
| Administrative and waste services | 118 | $935 | 0.47 | +32.6% |
| Manufacturing | 114 | $574 | 0.32 | -1.7% |
| Other services | 106 | $361 | 0.80 | -10.9% |
| Transportation and warehousing | 79 | $1,963 | 0.42 | -9.2% |
| Finance and insurance | 77 | $1,004 | 0.42 | -11.5% |
| Real estate and rental | 70 | $1,498 | 1.03 | +40.0% |
| Information | 48 | $1,309 | 0.58 | -20.0% |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | 27 | $439 | 0.37 | +58.8% |
| Unclassified | 4 | $609 | 0.42 | +100.0% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, all ownerships, total covered employment in the quarter's third month; over-the-year changes as published. Suppressed cells stay blank.
Drought #
No drought class at this point (USDM covers the United States only)
Sites found: 5, searched within 0 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 0 km away are not.
US Drought Monitor current week; the highest class of any polygon containing the point.
Reservoirs #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 150 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 150 km away are not.
Σ(capacity × percent full) / Σ capacity over TWDB reservoirs within 150 km. Texas only; elsewhere USGS reservoir elevation/storage is listed without a capacity to normalise by.
Stream gauges #
Surface water layer not loaded
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest readings screened against EPA freshwater criteria (DO ≥ 5 mg/L, pH 6.5–9, conductance, turbidity, temperature); NWS flood categories where a NWPS gauge is co-located.
Groundwater #
No USGS monitoring wells within 75 km (or above 1,500 km)
Sites found: 0, searched within 75 km of this place’s internal point. That is a disc around a point, not the area itself: sites outside the boundary are included, and sites inside it further than 75 km away are not.
USGS latest daily water levels. A single latest reading says where the table is, not which way it is moving; select a well for its 365-day trace.
Water stress #
low (0.00)
Σ wᵢ·termᵢ / Σ wᵢ = 0.35×0.00 / 0.35
Banks & federal dollars #
$617.3 m in deposits at 9 offices of 6 banks (SOD June 2026); HHI 3,035, highly concentrated. $103.0 m federal obligations in FY2026 (direct payments $98.9 m, grants $4.1 m), $23,136 per covered job
| Item | Value | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| WesBanco Bank, Inc. | $297.3 m · 48.2% share · 3 offices | |
| Peoples Bank | $133.6 m · 21.6% share · 1 office | |
| First Exchange Bank | $61.8 m · 10.0% share · 1 office | |
| Wetzel, WV | $103.0 m FY2026 · $23,136/job |
| Institution | Deposits | Share | Offices |
|---|---|---|---|
| WesBanco Bank, Inc. | $297,340,000 | 48.2% | 3 |
| Peoples Bank | $133,599,000 | 21.6% | 1 |
| First Exchange Bank | $61,788,000 | 10.0% | 1 |
| Citizens Bank of West Virginia, Inc. | $54,361,000 | 8.8% | 1 |
| First Mutual Bank, FSB | $43,683,000 | 7.1% | 1 |
| First Community Bank | $26,528,000 | 4.3% | 2 |
Deposit concentration is 3,035 across 6 banks, which the 1995 Department of Justice bank merger screen calls highly concentrated.
HHI = Σ (share %)² over 6 banks with deposits in the county = 48.2² + 21.6² + 10.0² + … (3 more) = 3,035
FDIC Summary of Deposits: deposits at every insured office as of June 30, annual; HHI is the sum of squared county deposit shares (DOJ 1995 bank merger screen: 1000 / 1800). USAspending: obligations by place of performance for the latest complete federal fiscal year (Oct 1 to Sep 30), what agencies committed, not what they paid out; recipients are legal entities. Per-job divides obligations by BLS QCEW covered employment.
Federal obligations #
That is $23,136 per covered job, against 4,453 jobs in the 2026 Q1 QCEW quarter.
per job = FY2026 obligations $103.0 m / 4,453 covered jobs (BLS QCEW 2026 Q1, all ownerships) = $23,136
USAspending obligations are recorded where the work is performed, so a prime award performed here is counted here even when the recipient is headquartered elsewhere. Recipients are legal entities, never people.
National context, not this county #
These are United States, single-gauge, single-state and port series. None of them is keyed to this county.
| Series | Latest | As of | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi River at Memphis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Mississippi River at St. Louis, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Ohio River at Louisville, stage · ft | 12.69 | 2026-10-05 | +3.3% |
| Missouri River at St. Joseph, stage · ft | not published | not published | |
| Colorado River below Hoover Dam, flow (Hoover releases) · ft³/s | 5,170.00 | 2026-02-05 | -25.3% |
| Texas reservoirs, statewide percent full · % | 72.60 | 2026-10-06 | +0.0% |
| Laredo truck crossings, monthly · trucks | 258,700.00 | 2026-08-01 | -0.4% |
| Los Angeles + Long Beach container volume, annual · TEU | 10,513,167.00 | 2023-01-01 | -13.5% |
| Containerships waiting for a berth, all US ports · ships | 6.00 | 2026-09-22 | -14.3% |
| Shanghai to Los Angeles container rate · $ per 40 ft box | 6,830.00 | 2026-08-01 | +7.4% |
| US diesel retail price · $ per gallon | unavailable | not published | |
| WTI crude oil, spot · $ per barrel | 96.16 | 2026-09-29 | -3.2% |
| 30-year fixed mortgage rate · % | 7.28 | 2026-10-01 | +3.6% |
| Housing starts, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,275.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.6% |
| Building permits, annual rate · thousands of units | 1,403.00 | 2026-08-01 | -2.1% |
| Case-Shiller US home price index · index, Jan 2000 = 100 | 337.31 | 2026-07-01 | +0.1% |
| Unemployment rate · % | 4.20 | 2026-09-01 | +2.4% |
| US goods and services trade balance, monthly · $ millions | -105,572.00 | 2026-08-01 | -13.7% |
| Retail sales excluding food services, monthly · $ millions | 646,347.00 | 2026-08-01 | +1.1% |
The indicator registry has no county-keyed series and no geographic selection: every entry is national, a named gauge, a single state or a port. They are here as the backdrop the county's own numbers move against, and they are never this county's readings.
What changed #
Wetzel County, WV: 6 findings, 1 at a watch level and 5 noted
watchWetzel County, WV's covered employment is -0.9% against a year earlier, a watch level here: covered employment below the same quarter a year earlier (BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level). The previous published period is not in this table, so this is a standing level rather than a change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- test: jobs.yoy.emp = -0.9 < 0
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published; not an official level
noteWetzel County, WV's average weekly wage was 2.2% higher than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- +2.2 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteWetzel County, WV's covered employment was 0.9% lower than the same quarter a year earlier in 2026 Q1, on BLS QCEW's published over-the-year change.
Period 2026 Q1.Show the arithmetic
- -0.9 % = BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change for 2026 Q1, as published
- the newest QCEW file carries no year-earlier level, so no move from one level to another is printed
BLS QCEW over-the-year percent change, as published
noteWetzel County, WV's years of wages of 2.2 ranks 2,888th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of 4.3.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 6 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published yearsOfWages
- typical home value / (average weekly wage × 52); one average covered job, not a household
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
noteWetzel County, WV's typical home value of $116,693 ranks 2,886th of 3,063 US counties, against a median of $234,566.
Period 2026-08.Show the arithmetic
- 6 on the 0-to-100 scale across 3063 US counties that published home.latest
position among the entities that published this metric this period; not an official level
Read all 6 findings in the full brief
Every finding is produced by a fixed rule table and a fixed sentence for each rule. Nothing here is generated prose.